IT’S NO STRETCH: Jason Kidd, stretching before the Knicks’ Jan. 24 game at Boston, missed Wednesday’s 113-97 win over the Magic with back spasms, but says he will return to the starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Bucks at the Garden. Photo: NBAE/Getty Images

IT’S NO STRETCH:Jason Kidd, stretching before the Knicks’ Jan. 24 game at Boston, missed Wednesday’s 113-97 win over the Magic with back spasms, but says he will return to the starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Bucks at the Garden. (NBAE/Getty Images)

It’s always a concern when a 39-year-old player comes up with a bad back, especially when he’s a guard who already had missed four games earlier in the season with the same injury. But Jason Kidd insists he will play tonight, and — as long as he and the Knicks use common sense — the problem won’t be chronic or reoccurring.

Coach Mike Woodson also said Kidd will play. In fact, Woodson plans not only to play Kidd, but also to start him against Brandon Jennings and the Bucks.

“Hopefully [tonight]. I got some shots up, I’ll go through shoot-around and see how I feel,’’ said Kidd. “I could’ve [played], but we felt another day’s rest could only help, especially going into a back-to-back. We’ll be playing three [games] in four nights, [but] I won’t be playing three in four nights, so that helps.’’

After missing four games earlier this season with lower back spasms, Kidd sat out Wednesday’s rout of the Magic with a sore lower back. But he didn’t have any tests, just got treatment and insisted it was precautionary.

“The minutes are a concern,’’ Kidd admitted. “Coach, we both want to win, so if he has to play me 30 [minutes] or if he has to play me 20, whatever it takes to win. We’re coming to the All-Star break, so I’ll get a couple days of rest. For the elite teams, after the All-Star break, we try to make that push to get your seeding and go from there.’’

Raymond Felton’s broken pinkie forced Kidd to log an average of 30.4 minutes per game going into last weekend, far more than the Knicks had planned. But he played just 15 minutes last Saturday in Philadelphia, and only five Sunday against the Hawks, sitting out the whole second half and telling Woodson he needed a break.

“He could’ve played if he wanted to, but it was our decision to let him rest,’’ Woodson said. “I’m going to always be open-minded [about] what Kidd wants to do. As a pro, he’s put himself in that position to be able to demand certain things in terms of the way he plays. If he’s not feeling well, I’ve got to respect that and give him some rest, because there was a 13-, 14-game stretch where we played him a lot.’’

With the Knicks off from Feb. 14-19 for the All-Star break, and monitoring the situation closely moving forward, Kidd is confident his back won’t derail the second half of his season.

“We just continue to keep doing the treatments and stuff and hopefully it doesn’t flare up. I don’t foresee it flaring up, especially if my minutes go down,’’ said Kidd, who, with the Knicks hosting the Kings tomorrow, doesn’t expect to be held out of the second night of back-to-backs, or be on a strict minutes limit.

“There’s no restrictions. It’s just a matter of making sure I take care of myself. And [the team] being full strength helps, because I won’t have to play 35 minutes a night. … I’m just happy to get back out there and help my teammates, glad to see [Wednesday’s] game is the way that we started the season off by moving the ball and playing defense. So hopefully we have some help with that.’’